"Human Origins 2021" Sergey Gavrilets (1,4), Peter J Richerson (2), and Frans de Waal (3) - OSF

“Human Origins 2021”
Sergey Gavrilets (1,4), Peter J Richerson (2), and Frans de Waal (3)

    (1) Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Department of Mathematics,
        National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis, Center for the Dynamics
        of Social Complexity, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996;
    (2) Department of Environmental Science and Policy, University of California, Davis, CA
        95616;
    (3) Living Links, Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA
        30322;
    (4) Corresponding author; email: gavrila@utk.edu

“It has often and confidently been asserted, that man's origin can never be known: but ignorance more
frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know
much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” (Darwin “The
Descent of Man” 1871, p.3).

“The difference in mind between man and the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and
not of kind.” (p.85)

"The formation of different languages and of distinct species, and the proofs that both have been
developed through a gradual process, are curiously parallel…" (p.90)

“A tribe including many members who, from possessing in a high degree the spirit of patriotism, fidelity,
obedience, courage, and sympathy, were always ready to aid one another, and to sacrifice themselves for
the common good, would be victorious over most other tribes… [A]s morality is one important element in
their success, the standard of morality and the number of well-endowed men will thus everywhere tend to
rise and increase.” (p.148)

        We now have a much better understanding of how new species arise and adapt to their
environments - the process which Charles Darwin called a “mystery of mysteries” - and we
have begun to offer evolutionary accounts of the origin of our own species. Studying human
origins necessarily implies a comparison with our close relatives, the other primates, and with
other social animals. Here we argue that research on human origins and our subsequent
cultural and social evolution is vital not only for foundational scientific discovery but also for
understanding, mitigating, and solving the most pressing challenges faced by our society.
Advancing research on human origins and social complexity is also very timely given recent
advances and emerging opportunities. Fully capitalizing on these requires a concerted
transdisciplinary effort of researchers from a diverse set of disciplines. Success in this endeavor
could yield tremendous gains for society.

        Challenges faced by our society. Understanding modern human behavior, psychology,

culture, and many economic, political, and social processes is hardly possible without also
considering forces that have shaped our evolution (1). For example, humans strongly react to
inequality and injustice, a behavior that we share with other primates (2). Understanding the
evolution of our sense of fairness may help us build a more just society. Similarly, studies of
sexual selection as well as genetic and cultural diversity can shed light on gender, race, and
ethnicity-related prejudices, their consequences for human behavior, and ways to mitigate
undesirable effects.
         The genetic, physiological, and psychological “machinery” for our decision-making has
evolved over time, shaped by forces like benefits and costs considerations, social instincts,
cognitive biases, beliefs, normative values, reinforcement, and the “theory of mind”. Insights into
the factors shaping human (pro)sociality can be leveraged to improve the efficiency and
benevolence of collective actions in businesses and communities. They can foster more efficient
economic, political, social, and educational policies. Such insights can also be applied to better
understanding of motivations leading to the onset and maintenance of (non)violent conflicts,
which can increase societal resilience to external and internal shocks.
         Evolutionary processes have also shaped human psychology influencing various
aspects of our social life. Examples include religion and rituals, arts, sports, and entertainment,
activism and citizenship, leadership and followership, and the acceptance of or resistance to
various innovations - cultural, economic, technological, and political. Heavy reliance on cultural
learning throughout our evolutionary history explains conformity and overimitation as well as
vulnerability to fake news and propaganda. Understanding and managing societal changes will
hardly be possible without taking all of these aspects into consideration (3).
          Our long-term persistence requires addressing existential risks from climate change,
biodiversity loss, depletion of non-renewable resources, and security threats posed by unstable
political systems. Humans have evolved various psychological mechanisms and biases for
making collective decisions which need to be considered when developing policies for
sustainability (4). There are also various public health issues, including emerging epidemic
diseases, addictions, obesity, and geriatric disabilities, approaching which is already benefiting
from application of the emerging discipline of evolutionary medicine (5).
         Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly becoming a pervasive fact of all of our lives. It brings
not only technological advances but also threats that are difficult to predict. Research on human
brain and decision-making can be crucial in improving this technology. Simultaneously
improving human-AI interactions requires a new look at human social psychology and on how
we deal with various social dilemmas (6).

        Recent scientific advances. There has been an exciting cascade of recent discoveries
related to human origins and evolution. We illustrate a large arc of progress with examples from
primatology, paleoclimatology, brain evolution, genetics, social, and cultural evolution. New
transcriptome sequencing methods are allowing us to study the molecular and cellular
differences in brain organization between human and nonhuman primates (6). Analysis of
dynamic patterns of coordinated and anti-coordinated functional magnetic resonance imaging
signals moves us closer to understanding the mechanistic correlates of consciousness (7). The
capacity for cumulative culture has been crucial for the success of our species (3) but cultural
transmission of habits and knowledge is clearly not limited to humans as it is now being studied

in animals including flies, fish, birds, primates, and whales (8). The concept of “theory of mind”
comes out of ape studies in the 1970s, and after a period of doubt whether apes actually
possess this capacity, it now seems that they understand that others’ actions are driven not by
reality but by beliefs about reality, even if those beliefs are false (9). Paleoclimatological and
paleoecological investigations are giving us an increasingly high-resolution understanding of the
Pleistocene environments in which recent human evolution took place (10). Genomic and
archeological studies are shedding further light on more recent events in human evolution, such
as hybridization between our ancestors and Neanderthal and Denisovans, the spread of
agriculture and pottery in prehistoric Europe, and population replacement in remote Oceania (1).
These studies show a complex interplay of population migrations and the diffusion of cultural
ideas across geographic landscapes. Archaeological and historical investigations increasingly
produce sufficiently detailed time series that can be used to test sophisticated models of cultural
evolution (12). Experimental economics points to the crucial importance of social norms for
human cooperative behavior (13); compliance with norms is conditional on the fact that others
comply and are willing to punish free-riders. Neuroeconomic studies of lesion patients with
damage to different brain regions is allowing insights on the relative roles of intuition and
deliberation in human cooperative behavior (14). Cumulatively these and other advances give
us a feeling that different pieces of a huge puzzle are starting to come together.

         Opportunities for further advances. Capitalizing on recent advances can further the
development of a unified theory of human origins and evolution. This can be more readily
achieved by leveraging existing and growing public interest. Arguably, no area of life sciences is
more compelling to the general public, as understanding of human origins and evolution
underpin discussions of our place in the universe, of cognition and morality, and of our fate as a
species.
         Mounting a concerted push now would be particularly meaningful, as a rather unique
opportunity is rapidly approaching. Some may remember the widespread celebration of the
150th anniversary of Darwin’s book “On the Origin of Species” in 2009, when a great number of
conferences, workshops, new books, and public lectures celebrated the achievements of
evolutionary biology and related aspects of the life sciences. These events garnered a
tremendous amount of attention from the general public, traditional and new news media,
politicians, and educators across the world. In 2021, we will be celebrating the 150th
anniversary of Darwin’s book "The Descent of Man", in which he laid down the foundation for
scientific studies of human origins. This book also introduced the concept of sexual selection,
which continues to generate scientific insights of great interest and excitement to the general
public including many that relate to dating, parenting, same-sex behavior, arts and intelligence.
We anticipate that celebratory events similar to those in 2009, but on a larger scale, will be
undertaken in 2021, as it will be a unique occasion to advance the appreciation of science in
general, of life and social sciences, in particular, and of a diversity of topics related to human
origins and evolution. Accordingly, we expect that 2021 will be replete with fantastic possibilities
for education and outreach. Preparations should begin now to fully realize the potential impact
of the anniversary.

       Going forward. Inquiry into human origins and evolution is among the greatest scientific

challenges we face. Disciplinary pursuits can achieve singular discoveries, but more must be
done. To move beyond the proverbial blind mens’ description of an elephant, we must blaze a
new pathway forward through transdisciplinary collaborations of environmental scientists,
biologists, social scientists, and theoreticians. We must build on emerging trends in trans-
disciplinary research to achieve truly transformative advances that can engross researchers,
funders, legislators, and the general public alike. Progress is being made to achieve this goal in
evolutionary biology, where methods and insights from biology, mathematics, physics,
chemistry, and computational science have already become tightly intertwined. Social sciences
are moving in a similar direction. This trend is especially visible in the establishment of several
“synthesis centers” by the NSF in the last couple of decades. Each center has been a
tremendous success (15). Besides advancing research, these centers have nurtured a cadre of
early career life- and social scientists trained in transdisciplinary research.
        Making further progress will require further investment. With opportunity in sight and
tools in hand, strategic injections of support from funding agencies like the NSF will be
necessary to build momentum towards deriving a unified theory of human origins and social and
cultural evolution.
        In 1871 Darwin made a good start on a synthetic theory of human biological and cultural
evolution. However in the late 19th and early 20 centuries, many of his most notable synthetic
ideas were lost as the social and life sciences became separate disciplines. With Darwin’s work
serving as a touchstone, the emerging synthesis pictures biology and culture as intricately
entwined. Thus, what was old is once again new - an understanding worth celebrating for its
own sake and for what it may inspire.

References.
   1. D. Reich, Who We Are and How We Got Here: Ancient DNA and the New Science of the
       Human Past: Oxford University Press (2018).
   2. S. F. Brosnan and F. B. M. de Waal. Science, 346, 314–322 (2014).
   3. J. Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture Is Driving Human Evolution,
       Domesticating Our Species, and Making Us Smarter. Princeton: Princeton University
       Press (2016).
   4. J. S. Brooks et al., Journal of Sustainability Science, 13, 1 (2018).
   5. S. C. Stearns, S. C. and R. Medzhitov. Evolutionary Medicine, Sinauer Associates, Inc,
       Sunderland, MA (2015).
   6. I. Rahwan et al., Nature, 68, 477 (2019).
   7. C. Krupenye et al., Science 354, 110 (2016).
   8. T. Rodrigues et al., Quaternary Science Reviews 172, 118 (2017).
   9. A. M. M. Sousa et al., Science 358, 1027 (2017).
   10. A. Demertzi et al., Science Advances 5, eaat7603 (2018).
   11. H. Whitehead et al., Nature Communications, 10, 2405 (2019).
   12. E. Fehr, I. Schurtenberger, Nature Human Biology, 2, 458 (2018).
   13. J. Wills et al., Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 13,349 (2018).
   14. P. Turchin et al., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115, E144 (2018).

15. J. S. Baron et al. BioScience, 67, 750 (2017).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
We thank A. Bentley and M. J. Blum for comments on the draft and the participants of the
NIMBioS working group “Human Origins 2021” for stimulating discussions. This paper was
sponsored by the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis through NSF
Award #EF-0830858, with additional support from The University of Tennessee, Knoxville. SG
was also supported by the U. S. Army Research Office grants W911NF-14-1-0637 and
W911NF-17-1-0150, the Office of Naval Research grant W911NF-18-1-0138, the John
Templeton Foundation, and by the NIH Grant GM56693. PJR was supported by the John
Templeton Foundation.